This $383,891 Project Grant award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Biomedical Research and Research Training Program (CFDA 93.859) supports research to understand the mechanisms driving cell cycle plasticity and robustness. The principal investigator will use advanced time-lapse microscopy tools to investigate how cells can bypass inhibition of the CDK2 cell cycle regulator by activating alternative CDK4/6 pathways, enabling...
This $135,573 federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) will support the following key objectives at the University of Virginia Comprehensive Cancer Center (UVA): Increase UVA's accrual depth and breadth in National Clinical Trials Network (NCTN) and Experimental Therapeutics Clinical Trials Network (ETCTN) clinical trials by identifying and overcoming provider and patient barriers. Increase UVA's leadership and collaboration in...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $162,080 Project Grant under the Cancer Research Manpower (CFDA 93.398) federal grant program to The Johns Hopkins University. The grant supports a study to visualize B cell infiltration and aggregation within the tumor microenvironment. Specifically, the study uses transgenic mouse models and intravital microscopy to investigate how high endothelial venules facilitate B cell entry into tumors and the formation of tertiary lymphoid structures,...
This Project Grant award from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), under the Cardiovascular Diseases Research program (CFDA 93.837), provides $112,034 to the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia (UVA) to support research on the mechanisms controlling arterial-venous specification during embryonic vascular development. The key objectives are to: Rigorously define the cell cycle state of arterial and venous endothelial cells in the developing embryo using FUCCI2...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.395 - Cancer Treatment Research) provides $607,580 to The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to conduct research aimed at identifying and exploiting molecular abnormalities of tumor vasculature. The key objectives are to: 1) identify molecular markers that distinguish tumor vasculature from normal vasculature, 2) determine if inhibition of the ENPEP marker promotes favorable outcomes in glioblastoma...
This Project Grant award of $601,169 from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (CFDA 93.837 - Cardiovascular Diseases Research) supports research by the University of Virginia to investigate the molecular basis for the progression of myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), a group of hematologic malignancies characterized by overproduction of myeloid cells. The research aims to elucidate how the JAK2V617F mutation and deficiencies in the PTPN1 tumor suppressor gene cooperate to promote...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 - Cancer Research Manpower program) provides $204,474 to The Regents of the University of Colorado to conduct research aimed at defining the relationship between cell quiescence and senescence. The project will use advanced microscopy techniques and RNA sequencing to study the molecular mechanisms that mediate the transition from a reversible quiescent state to permanent cell cycle arrest, or senescence. The research...
The National Cancer Institute (NCI) awarded a $149,804 Project Grant under the Cancer Research Manpower (CFDA 93.398) program to the University of Pittsburgh. The award will fund research to investigate the impact of the LAG3 protein on CD8+ T cell motility and migration in the context of cancer immunotherapy. The project aims to elucidate the mechanism by which LAG3 restricts T cell motility and determine if reduced motility impacts T cell infiltration into the tumor microenvironment. The...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.396 - Cancer Biology Research) provides $415,259 to the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia to conduct research on the role of long noncoding RNAs in acute myeloid leukemia (AML). The project aims to 1) determine the role of a specific regulatory RNA in primary and relapsed AML, and 2) define the mechanism underlying its deregulation in AML. This research will provide insights into how noncoding RNAs...
This Project Grant award from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 Cancer Research Manpower) provides $163,640 to the University of Virginia to develop novel non-viral gene delivery platforms for the treatment of glioblastoma, an aggressive brain cancer. The research aims to improve the therapeutic accumulation and delivery of gene therapies by leveraging brain-penetrating nanoparticles and focused ultrasound technology. Key objectives include investigating the tumor-targeting and...
This federal Project Grant award of $153,356.00 from the National Cancer Institute (CFDA 93.398 - Cancer Research Manpower) supports research to understand how the tumor microenvironment affects endothelial cell cycle state and specification, and the mechanisms by which pharmacological cell cycle inhibition can normalize tumor vasculature. The grant recipient, the Rector & Visitors of the University of Virginia, will use mouse models expressing a fluorescent cell cycle indicator (FUCCI2) to quantify endothelial cell cycle state and subtype markers in mammary and melanoma tumors. They will also test the hypothesis that the cell cycle inhibitor palbociclib can increase tumor endothelial cells in G1 states, enabling arterial-venous specification and normalizing the tumor vasculature. These studies aim to elucidate how the tumor microenvironment dysregulates endothelial cell cycle control, and identify new therapeutic approaches using cell cycle inhibitors to improve drug delivery and immune cell infiltration into tumors.